Lazy Daze/Commentary
Tim Hodge: Hi, all you loyal, penguin viewers. This is Tim Hodge and-- Rob Corley: Rob Corley. Tim Hodge: We're here doing the director-producer commentary on these three great shows. First one up here is, um, Lazy Daze. That's right. Rob Corley: Would you actually--wrote--? Tim Hodge: I wrote and directed this one. Tim Hodge: Um, it's been a long time since I've seen this show. (laughs) Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: Don't know what to say. Oh yeah, remember these jokes? Yeah, this original gag went, I think I had it sea monkeys, in there, but since that's a trademark, um-- Rob Corley: Yeah. We don't want to get sued. Tim Hodge: And also, there was a T.V. show about sea monkeys too, and like, yeah, that, we can't really infringe. Rob Corley: Was it a cartoon? Tim Hodge: Uh, it was live action. There was people running around in sea monkey costumes. Rob Corley: Ooh, that's scary. Tim Hodge: My sister-in-law was huge in the--collecting sea monkeys, she had little (laughs) Rob Corley: Oh, yeah, we had the little town, for the magnifying glasses. Tim Hodge: Yeah, yeah, she had a little globe you--she can carry them around her neck. Rob Corley: Ugh... Tim Hodge: (laughs) That was-- Rob Corley: Carrying around, like, brined shrimp on your neck while she-- Tim Hodge: Yeah, yeah. So, if you need a snack, you know. Rob Corley and Tim Hodge: (laugh) Rob Corley: Or you run into a flamingo. Tim Hodge: Yeah, I just had to keep it sea something, so this gag would work. Rob Corley: Oh, you had to use the mirror for the gag. Tim Hodge: See? Monkey, or see? A chimp. Rob Corley: Ah. Tim Hodge: Oh, the cover that magazine too that he's reading, uh, the comic book is, uh, Paul Conrad. Rob Corley: Is it a reused from one of the other episodes? Tim Hodge: Yeah, that was the cover we make, a going away, uh, comic book cover for him when he left the company. Before he came back, and left again. Rob Corley: (laughs) Tim Hodge: We, you know, he's a big comic guy, so we made him a superhero. Rob Corley: Yeah, I remember that. We used to sing--cover on one of the episodes I directed. Tim Hodge: Oh, that's right. That's right, on, um, More is More, right? Rob Corley: Yes, More is More. Tim Hodge: It's, um, we extended the opening here. This is from the original six episodes, for the extra ten seconds in there, so to give it, uh-- Rob Corley: Was it-- Tim Hodge: Those little--the multi-frame thing, wasn't in there in the original. Original series. Rob Corley: Works really good. Tim Hodge: Okay, so here we have Lazy Daze. I think, originally, the title was "Lazy Days on Planet Klaatu", cuz I like, "Klaatu niktober bara"--oh, it-- Rob Corley: Day the Earth Stood Still? Tim Hodge: Yes, this whole plot kinda spawned out of my love for old science fiction movies. I wanted to do a planet with giant ants on it, like something Ray Harryhausen would have done. Rob Corley: Oh, cool. Tim Hodge: Yeah, you ever see, what was it, Them? Rob Corley: Them, yeah. Tim Hodge: That was the one with the giant ants. Rob Corley: The radioactive ants. Tim Hodge: Yeah, well, who was that, Joan Collins in that? Rob Corley: I, think so. A little before my time, but-- Tim Hodge: Yeah, well, mine too. I just like them. Rob Corley: Glass, invisible? Tim Hodge: Yeah, he was--one of his crazy experiments, to make glass invisible, so you can see through it. Rob Corley: So, I need to be careful about the writing, right? So, because-- Tim Hodge: Yes, the writing is--it's some of the most clever writing I've ever done. Rob Corley: Hmmm. How is it directing yourself? Tim Hodge: Um, very easy. Rob Corley: Yeah, yeah. Tim Hodge: It's just like, "I like it! Approved!" Rob Corley: That sure is funny. Tim Hodge: Oh, actually, this--they go through a lot of different, uh, incarnations, because, uh, not everybody else got the joke. Rob Corley: Oh, really? Wow. Tim Hodge: Did you every have an ant farm? Rob Corley: I did not, ever have an ant farm. Tim Hodge: We did, my daughter had one. Rob Corley: I wanted one as a kid, but, you know, we had enough ants in the yard, so, my parents didn't-- Tim Hodge: It was really cool for a while, but the ants didn't last very long. I don't know if they just got bored with not being able to get anywhere else or what. And it came with the instructions, "You can't give them too much water, but make sure you give them enough". Rob Corley: Okay, what is enough? Tim Hodge: It's like, "How much? You want three drops? Four drops? Do I put a whole puddle in there?" Rob Corley: Have you seen the new ones, where it's the gel? The hardened gel. Tim Hodge: Yeah, yeah, that looks cool. Rob Corley: Is that a subtle warning of what's to come? Tim Hodge: Yes, it is. Cuz, if you have ants, you have to have a picnic. Rob Corley: Oh. Tim Hodge: And we should have used this character in other shows. Rob Corley: I know, I love that design. I love that robot. Tim Hodge: Yeah, um, Eddie Pitman--oh, originally, too, there was, like, uh, a text message on that screen. But, I realized a lot of our audience can't read. And if it goes foreign, then you have to change all that, so we just replayed it. Rob Corley: Okay, so, who did the character designs? Was it--? Tim Hodge: That was--Eddie Pitman did the robot, the rest of these, um, were done by different people, um, Paul Conrad, who--was on the cover, did the--Cavitus and the henchmen. And the original penguin designs, I can't remember, that was just before I started at Big Idea. I think, um, it was all, um, Everet Downing, Tod Carter, and, uh, Daniel Lopez. Rob Corley: Mmkay. Yeah, what about the layout? Tim Hodge: Oh, did you get the Harryhausen Ray joke? Rob Corley: No. Tim Hodge: They're looking for the Harryhausen Ray--they have to go find the Harryhausen Ray. It stops action. Freezes it at, uh, molecular-- Rob Corley: Ohhh. Tim Hodge: It comes into play later. For those of you who don't follow animation that close, Ray Harryhausen, Harryhausen Ray, he's a guy that does, old stop motion films. Rob Corley: Mighty Joe Young, was, uh-- Tim Hodge: Jason and the Argonauts. Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: The original Mighty Joe Young, not the-- Rob Corley: Yes, the original. Rob Corley: Willis O'Brien. He was sort of a protege to Willis O'Brien. Tim Hodge: The original King Kong, yeah. Rob Corley: Yeah, who did the layouts for this, the new, like, the planet, exteriors? Tim Hodge: Uh, John Nevarrez did the planet. In fact, he also did, um, on the upcoming one, the Wiki Tiki, which is also on this video. He does great work. If you can find his blog, you'll be truly inspired. Rob Corley: Yeah, he's really good, and he's got a lot of links to other really talented artists. Tim Hodge: Yeah, most of his blog entries are like, "Look at these links, too!" Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: Real great guy to work with. Yeah, all the--on this episode, all the extra art was done by Eddie Pitman and John Nevarrez. Rob Corley: Now, the storyboards? Tim Hodge: Storyboards, uh...let's see. Um, my goodness, this is so long ago since we did this, um...Bruce Johnson? And Tod Bright. Rob Corley: Tom Bright? Tim Hodge: And I'm trying to remember the third person who worked on this. Now, I feel bad. Oh, great, thanks for putting me on the spot, Rob. I bet it was you, and you're just trying to see if I remember--no, no, it wasn't it. Rob Corley: No, no, no, I was on another episode. Tim Hodge: Oh. Rob Corley: That's okay, you can think about it for a little bit. Tim Hodge: Okay, yeah, it'll come to me when I read the credits. Um-- Rob Corley: When it's on the screen, I'll remember. Tim Hodge: The-- Rob Corley: Oh, yeah, that's the second-- Tim Hodge: It's an inexpensive gag, here. Rob Corley: Yeah, that's the second plunger gag in this film. Tim Hodge: Um, I have a love of plungers. Rob Corley: Yeah, Kevin comes out holding a plunger. Tim Hodge: Okay, maybe I wrote this one when we're having some plumbing problems and all. Rob Corley: Okay, alright. At home, right? Yeah. Tim Hodge: Finds its way into my work. Tim Hodge: The original designs for this planet, that John Nevarrez came up with, were just a floating island. Um, but I realized I wanted to use that later in Wiki Tiki, so I had him, we redesigned it to be a whole sphere. Rob Corley: Yeah, okay, Wiki Tiki-- Tim Hodge: That takes place on just an island floating in space. Rob Corley: That's the lava thing, right? Tim Hodge: Yeah, oh don't give it away right now. Rob Corley: Oh, sorry, oops. Wrong episode. Rob Corley: Oh, Tim Hodge: It's all messy. Tim Hodge: Break for commercial. But of course, there are no commercials on-- Rob Corley: Yeah, on the DVD. Tim Hodge: Thank goodness. Rob Corley: (laughs) Tim Hodge: This is a gag that didn't actually show up. Tim Hodge: That's actually a LarryBoy cup he's drinking out of. Rob Corley: Oh, but his hand's covering it. Tim Hodge: Yeah. Which is okay, because um, on television, they, the networks didn't like us advertising other shows on this show. Rob Corley: Oh. Tim Hodge: Cuz it's kind of a, a no-no for children's television to do it--to put advertising in it. It's like, we thought it was just an in-joke, but they saw it as advertising. So, it worked out okay. Rob Corley: Yeah, self-promotion. Shameless self-promotion. Tim Hodge: Yes. "It was just a joke." Tim Hodge: He's such--lazy, isn't he? Rob Corley: He is. He's a whiner. He's a little bit of a whiner sometimes. Tim Hodge: Remind you of anybody we know? Rob Corley: Hmm... Tim Hodge: Hmm... Tim Hodge: Aw, I should have had, like, a beam of light. Rob Corley: Yeah, should have been something coming out of the sky, like to, make it glow. Rob Corley: Kind of a convenient way of getting him out of the scene. Tim Hodge: Oh, absolutely. Rob Corley: (laughs) His phone rings, but he has to go to the ship to take it. Tim Hodge: (laughs) Rob Corley: Why? Tim Hodge: Well, I like episodes where everybody splits up. Rob Corley: Right. Tim Hodge: Because you--it's easy to cut between all the adventures and you get all the subplots. Rob Corley: I got you. You got the--yes, several things going on at once. Tim Hodge: And it gets real boring if you get six people walking here, then there, and you're trying to foll--and you gotta give everyone something to say. Rob Corley: Right. Rob Corley: Well, it's also hard with the cutting and continuity. It's like, okay, this character was standing here in this scene, but he's standing over here. Okay, let's make sure. So, fewer characters you have to worry about, especially if you're--the show's being animated overseas. Tim Hodge: Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. Rob Corley: A lot of questions and--they don't want to take anything for granted, so. Tim Hodge: Oh! Oh, now I remember seeing these boards, it was, um, oh shoot, now his name's just escaped me. Um, he worked for you to--storyboard artist. Um, real loose style, but real, um-- Rob Corley: From California. Tim Hodge: Yeah, yeah, and he has great expressions and great poses. Rob Corley: Beautiful stuff. Tim Hodge: And now his name's-- Rob Corley: He's really-- Tim Hodge: Hopefully, he's not watching this DVD and yelling his name at the screen. "It's me! It's me!" Rob Corley: We're so unprofessional. Tim Hodge: I know, I'm horrible. Rob Corley: Oh, there you go. Tim Hodge: I love his little girl scream. Tim Hodge: Yeah, that gag was--came from--wasn't in the script, it was--a storyboard artist came up with it. The multi-facet thing. Rob Corley: Oh, in the multiple eyes. Rob Corley: Now, where did Zidgel's phone go? Tim Hodge: Um... Rob Corley: He borrowed Midgel's-- Tim Hodge: Oh, it comes up later Rob Corley: Oh, okay. Tim Hodge: It comes up later. Rob Corley: Okay. Tim Hodge: Split up, so we can follow separate plots! Rob Corley: Everybody run in a different direction! Tim Hodge: See, it's technical problems play into the plot, too. Rob Corley: Oh, okay. Tim Hodge: Cuz you're not getting important information. Rob Corley: Now what is the theme? What is the--? Tim Hodge: This is about laziness. Rob Corley: Laziness. Tim Hodge: And we use the, um, the proverb about-- Rob Corley: The grasshopper and--? Tim Hodge: Well no, go to the ant. No, the grasshopper and the ant, it was Aesop. Rob Corley: Oh, that's right. That's not Christian, I'm sorry, I forgot. Yeah, Aesop's fable. Okay, yeah, go to the ant, you sluggard. Tim Hodge: Go to the ant, you sluggard. Yeah. That--they--I don't remember the verse, now, but they work, work, work! And they don't stop until the job's done. Rob Corley: That's right. Rob Corley: Now the admiral was on the phone, and he couldn't talk to him, but he goes back to the ship to speak to him on the screen.where he can't see him. Tim Hodge: I think, maybe, if I can explain it now, maybe his--he wasn't getting clear enough reception, so he had to go back to the ship to say, "Maybe that equipment would work better." Rob Corley: But then he goes--and then it didn't. Tim Hodge: And it doesn't. Rob Corley: Oh, okay. Tim Hodge: See, this is where we find out where his--his-- Rob Corley: His communicator, okay. Tim Hodge: See? Rob Corley: Ah, he put it in his, uh, in his quaf. Tim Hodge: In his pompadour, yeah. Rob Corley: Pompadour, yeah. Tim Hodge: Yeah, I don't think we've ever used that little read-out thing before. Rob Corley: Yeah, it's what I was gonna say. Tim Hodge: We just use whatever is convenient on the ship at any given time. Rob Corley: Right. Tim Hodge: Buttons do whatever we want them to do. Rob Corley: Yeah. Whatever we need. Tim Hodge: That's why most shows work, though. If, you know, watched the cast of Star Trek or--Serenity or any of those--they just push buttons, that don't really mean anything. Tim Hodge: This wasn't really scripted this way. I think we needed--we were running short on time. Rob Corley: Oh, to add a-- Tim Hodge: We needed, we needed an extra gag. Rob Corley: Add something funny. Tim Hodge: And it was a good place for a fadeout, for a commericial. And it plays into the plot, too. They come gather around him when he's cleaning up. Rob Corley: Oh, okay. Tim Hodge: Because, you know, we realize they make friends later. Rob Corley: Oh, because he's being ti--they think he's being tidy. Oh, well, he is. Tim Hodge: Exactly. Rob Corley: Okay. Rob Corley: Oh. Tim Hodge: Yeah, that was kind of a convenient spot to put there, to-- Rob Corley: That what--yeah, where's the sun? Tim Hodge: Well, have you ever left your crayons in the back of the car? Rob Corley: That's true, yeah. Near an open window. Yeah, okay. Tim Hodge: Yeah, where it was that in the sunlight. Oh, what's worse is when you leave a crayon in your pocket. Have you even done that? Rob Corley: Ooh, uh, yeah, or a pen in your pocket when it gets washed? Tim Hodge: Yeah, well the crayon was when it hits the dryer, and--. Rob Corley: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Tim Hodge: Do not do that. Be warned, I've made that mistake more than once. Rob Corley: Yeah, check your pockets. Tim Hodge: See, Jason's lazy and his laziness is--multiplized problems here cuz they can't get to the Harryhausen Ray. Rob Corley: Because he's--not put things back where they belong. Tim Hodge: Right. He was supposed to--he was supposed to clean out the storage bay. Rob Corley: I like that. Tim Hodge: Oh, there's also a common theme in this one and Wiki Tiki, the whole volcano theme. I'm a big fan of volcanoes. Rob Corley: Yeah, so how are they gonna be burnt to a crisp? Tim Hodge: Well, they are the, um, the ants were carrying the ship and they were gonna put it in the volcano. Rob Corley:Oh, okay, okay. Rob Corley: Oh, man. Tim Hodge: Yeah, this is--all Eddie Pitman came up with this little gag. I like it. Midgel and his commando phase here. Tim Hodge: (makes waddling sounds) Rob Corley: That's like one of those little wind-up soldiers you can get. You know, the army crawl. Tim Hodge: That would be great! That's a good toy. Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: Get a wind-up Zidgel. Rob Corley: Mm-hm. Tim Hodge: I love this, too. Tim Hodge: Continuity problem, what happened to the rock he lifted up? Okay. Rob Corley: Oh, yeah. Tim Hodge: If you watch these shows too closely, they are full of continuity problems. Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: But-- Rob Corley: Well, it's a tough schedule, you know, you got a lot of people you're working with and then you're just trying to meet the deadlines. Tim Hodge: Yeah, yeah. Rob Corley: Just trying to be as exacting as you possibly can, with the schedule that you're working under. Tim Hodge: Yeah, yeah. We had to do these far too quickly sometimes. Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: But everybody does. Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: It's not just us, every show is like that. Tim Hodge: See, he picks up the paper, and the ant leaves him alone. Rob Corley: Oh. Tim Hodge: Backs up. Rob Corley: Look at there. A new friend. Tim Hodge: And he doesn't understand it, you see. So he tosses the paper down and-- Rob Corley: Ah. Tim Hodge: And he finally--finally dawns on him. Rob Corley: Yep. ding ding ding ding ding! Tim Hodge: And it always helps when you hear your thoughts out loud like this. Rob Corley: Yeah, and it's not your voice. Tim Hodge: And it always--are your thoughts that echoy, when you remember things? Rob Corley: No, I don't have that hollow sound. Rob Corley: So, it's just become, like, a garbage dump of a planet. Tim Hodge: Yeah, well, see, Cavitus has been--you know--probably looked away from that scene, but Cavitus had been dumping trash everywhere to attract the, the ants. Rob Corley: Oh, yeah, I was--I was actually sleeping, I'm sorry. I missed that. Tim Hodge: There's the Harryhausen Ray. Rob Corley: Oh, there it is! Look at that. Fully charged. Tim Hodge: It's Kevin! He's got a funny orange hat. Tim Hodge: Now, the admiral's on his regular thing. Rob Corley: Yeah, and look, coming through clearly. Tim Hodge: He should've used the speaker all along. Rob Corley: Uh-huh. Tim Hodge: Instead of the big fancy HD screen. Rob Corley: It didn't work. Rob Corley: And so he speaks to the ants. Tim Hodge: Yeah. Rob Corley: He's like a Doctor Dolittle. Of the galaxy. Tim Hodge: How could we laugh when Kevin cries? Rob Corley: So he was deliberately trying to-- Tim Hodge: Yeah, yeah. And the ants--it wasn't a volcano. It was a big anthill. Rob Corley: Oh. Tim Hodge: No, it's not, Midgel. Rob Corley: Now where were they taking the trash? Tim Hodge: They're putting it in the--their--throwing it in their anthill. Rob Corley: In their anthill. Tim Hodge: They have an underground garbage dump or something. Rob Corley: I gotcha, okay. Tim Hodge: If it were a full-hour show, we would have seen that. Rob Corley: We would have actually visited that. Tim Hodge: We only had twenty-two and a half minutes. Rob Corley: You can only tell us about that. Tim Hodge: That's for the sequel. Rob Corley: Yeah. Tim Hodge: We'll explore their underground world. Tim Hodge: Aww. Rob Corley: He's such a smart boy. Tim Hodge: We always are at the end. Rob Corley: Just get to it. Tim Hodge: So, now everybody's happy, they work together. Rob Corley: Lookit there. Tim Hodge: You know, I had to tell one of the animators, thought he was gonna be real funny, in that scene right there, where Jason's washing the dishes, the first time it came back, he spit on it, too. Rob Corley: Oh. Tim Hodge: He was scrubbing it and (makes spitting sound) he started laughing off again. Rob Corley: They just added that joke? Tim Hodge: They did, and I had to send that one back. Like, "I'm sorry, that's funny, but that's disgusting." Rob Corley: We don't wash dishes that way. Rob Corley: Oh, man. Tim Hodge: They could have been setting up ant traps in the kitchen. Rob Corley: It's true, instead of going on a picnic. Tim Hodge: Well, instead of doing the dishes. Rob Corley: Oh, that's true, yeah. Tim Hodge: I can't remember exactly what translation we used, but--the one I was used to didn't say "the man who was diligent and hardworking has it all". It talks about "the diligent soul will be blessed". Rob Corley: Oh, okay. Tim Hodge: But that language was a little too lofty. Rob Corley: Yeah. So what--yeah, that's a good question is when the Scriptures are referenced or quoted in the stories, is there a standard version that is quoted from? Tim Hodge: No, there's not. We generally go through the New International Version, cuz we have permisson for that one, but sometimes we have to make sure we make it understandable too, because even sometimes the wording is a little-- Rob Corley: Like you said, a little lofty, or a little too-- Tim Hodge: Yeah, like there--or a little archaic, there is one verse that we used once that said the, um, uh, it's talking about the soul being made fat. Rob Corley: Mm. Tim Hodge: But that was a good thing, they're like, "No, no, no, we don't wanna say makes you fat." Rob Corley: Right. Tim Hodge: And that means--cuz that means blessed, in old words. Rob Corley: Right. Tim Hodge: Okay, let me--I gotta read some story artists. They go by too fast! Rob Corley: Tom Baker. Tim Hodge: No, it wasn't him. Rob Corley: Oh. Tim Hodge: Not on this one. And we can't rewind in here. Rob Corley: Nope. Well, it was good, that was a great one. Love the ants. Tim Hodge: I'm glad you liked it. Rob Corley: Good job on the writing and the, uh, directing. Tim Hodge: Thank you. Rob Corley: I'm just here for comic relief. Tim Hodge: Oh, well, your show comes up next. Rob Corley: Oh. Stay tuned. Category:Commentaries Category:Transcripts Category:Research Category:3-2-1 Penguins! Commentaries